The world population is estimated to be 9.2 billion in 2050. To sufficiently feed these people, the total food production will have to increase 60% – 70%. Climate models predict that warmer tem-peratures and increases in the frequency and duration of drought during the present century will have negative impact on agricultural productivity. These new global challenges require a more complex integrated agricultural and breeding agenda that focuses on livelihood improvement coupled with agro-ecosystem resilience, eco-efficiency and sustainability rather than just on crop productivity gains. Intensifying sustainability agro-ecosystems by producing more food with lower inputs, adapting agriculture to climate change, conserving agro-biodiversity through its use, and making markets to work for the small farmers are needed to address the main issues of our time. Plant breeding has played a vital role in the successful development of modern agriculture. Development of new cultivars will be required while reducing the impact of agriculture on the environment and maintaining sufficient production. Conventional plant breeding will remain the backbone of crop improvement strategies. Genetic engineering has the potential to address some of the most challenging biotic constraints faced by farmers, which are not easily addressed through conventional plant breeding alone. Protective measures and laws, especially patenting, must be moderated to eliminate coverage so broad that it stifles innovation. They must be made less restrictive to encourage research and free flow of materials and information. Small farmers have an important role in conserving and using crop biodiversity. Public sector breeding must remain vigorous, especially in areas where the private sector does not function. This will often require benevolent public/private partnerships as well as government support. Active and positive connections between the private and public breeding sectors and large-scale gene banks are required to avoid a possible conflict involving breeders’ rights, gene preservation and erosion. Plant breeding can be a powerful tool to bring “harmony” between agriculture and the environment, but partnerships and cooperation are needed to make this a reality.

Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J. and Befort, B.L. (2011) Global Food Demand and the Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 20260-20264. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116437108

Kastner, T., Rivas, M.J.I., Koch, W. and Nonhebel, S. (2012) Global Changes in Diets and the Consequences for Land Requirements for Food. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 6868-6872. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1117054109

Wirsenius, S., Azar, C. and Berndes, G. (2010) How Much Land Is Needed for Global Food Production under Scenarios of Dietary Changes and Livestock Productivity Increases in 2030? Agricultural Systems, 103, 621-638. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2010.07.005

Schlenker, W. and Roberts, M.J. (2009) Nonlinear Temperature Effects Indicate Severe Damages to US Crop Yields under Climate Change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 15594-15598. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906865106

Kelly, A.E. and Goulden, M.L. (2008) Rapid Shifts in Plant Distribution with Recent Climate Change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 11823-11826.http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802891105

Burney, J.A., Davis, S.J. and Lobell, D.B. (2010) Greenhouse Gas Mitigation by Agricultural Intensification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 12052-12057. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0914216107

Tilman, D. (1999) Global Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Expansion: The Need for Sustainable and Efficient Practices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 96, 5995-6000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.96.11.5995

Ruane, J., Sonnino, A., Steduto, P. and Deane, C. (2008) Coping with Water Scarcity: What Role for Biotechnologies? Land and Water Discussion Paper 7, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

Gao, H., Brandizzi, F., Benning, C. and Larkin, R.M. (2008) A Membrane-Tethered Transcription Factor Defines a Branch of the Heat Stress Response in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 16398-16403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0808463105

Pretty, J.N. and Hine, R. (2001) Reducing Food Poverty with Sustainable Agriculture: A Summary of New Evidence. Final Report of the “SAFE-World” (The Potential of Sustainable Agriculture to Feed the World) Research Project. Centre for Environment and Society, University of Essex, Colchester.

Cook, R.J. (2006) Toward Cropping Systems that Enhance Productivity and Sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 18389-18394.http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0605946103

Boudry, P., Broomberg, K., Saumitou-Laprade, P., Morchen, M., Cuegen, J. and Van Dijk, H. (1994) Gene Escape in Transgenic Sugar Beet: What Can Be Learned from Molecular Studies of Weed Beet Populations? Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on the Biosafety, Results of Field Tests of Genetically-Modified Plants and Microorganisms, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Oakland, 75-83.

Delmer, D.P. (2005) Agriculture in the Developing World: Connecting Innovations in Plant Research to Downstream Applications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 15739-15746. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0505895102 eww150119lx

The defoliation of Cryptomeria japonica is observed in shrine forests around Hikone, Japan. Here, moisture content, soil pH, exchangeable Mg, Ca and Al of soil in shrine forests of C. japonica were examined in order to assess the relationship between these factors and defoliation. There was no relationship between soil pH, exchangeable Mg and Ca in soil and the degree of defoliation in shrine forests. Exchangeable Al in the soil of shrine forests increased with decreasing soil pH below pH 5.0, but there was no relationship between exchangeable Al and degree of defoliation in shrine forests. Soil moisture content differed between severely defoliated forests and forests with no defoliation. Soil moisture is thought to play a large role in inducing defoliation of C. japonica. Based on results from previous studies, the declining forests in the basin of the Kuzuryu River in Fukui Prefecture and in the basin of the Koito River in Chiba Prefecture reported by Yambe (1973) were considered to have been caused by the construction of dams. On these rivers, dams were constructed several years before the forest decline researched by Yambe. Dam construction is thought to have caused the low moisture content in the basins.

Tropical fruit trees constitute important biological resources in the global agrobiodiversity context. Unlike the tropical fruit trees of American and Asian origin, indigenous fruit trees (IFT) of tropical Africa have scarcely achieved the status of international recognition in commodity markets and research arena outside Africa. This paper presented a critical review of the status of IFT in the Tropical African sub-regions (of West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands) in relation to the introduced naturalised fruit trees from tropical America and Asia, threats to the diversity and sustainable use of IFT, analysis of the opportunities and challenges of developing IFT, as well as targets for crop improvement of the rich IFT of Tropical Africa. Domestication programme via relevant vegetative propagation techniques for priority IFT of the sub-regions was examined and advocated, in addition to the adoption of complementary conservation strategies, including Field GeneBanks in the management of the continent’s IFT diversity.

Jaenicke, H. and Hoschle-Zeledon, I. (2006) Strategic Framework for Underutilized Plant Species Research and Development with Special Reference to Asia and the Pacific, and to Sub-Saharan Africa. International Centre for Underutilized Crops, Rome, 33 p.

Halewood, M., Baidu-Forson, J.J., Clancy, E. and Vodouhe, R.S. (2014) Cooperating to Make the Best Use of Plant Genetic Resources in West and Central Africa: A Regional Imperative. Bioversity International, Rome, and CORAF/ WECARD, Dakar.

Colombian ecosystems maintain key ecological processes that support thousands of species, including human beings. With the expansion of the country’s population, and the implementation of a government’s development plan based on an economy centred on extraction patterns, the conservation of these ecosystems is at serious risk. It is a priority to implement effective strategies that ensure the protection of the country’s biological diversity as well as the mitigation and prevention of threats and to contribute to its proper use. Colombia’s development strategies as well as its peoples’ wellbeing depend on the suitable condition of its natural assets. The identification of surrogates of conservation, the formulation of conservation goals, the prioritization of key areas and the formulation of conservation strategies based on the preservation, restoration and sustainable use of the territory and its biodiversity are proposed for 60% of the emerged land (~ 700,000 Km2). This research aims at giving proper guidelines to manage the territory and finding common points between development and biodiversity conservation, as well as to use this input for the development and implementation of a National Decision-making Support System (DSS) that will potentially have an impact on Colombia’s environmental policies and territorial planning schemes.

Suski, C.D. and Cooke, S.J. (2007) Conservation of Aquatic Resources through the Use of Freshwater Protected Areas: Opportunities and Challenges. Biodiversity and Conservation, 16, 2015-2029.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-006-9060-7

Koleff, P. and Urquiza-Haas, T. (2011) Planning for the Conservation of the Terrestrial Biodiversity in Mexico: Challenges in a Mega-Diverse Country. National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, National Commission on National Protected Areas, México.

National Research Council (2004) Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making. Committee on Assessing and Valuing the Services of Aquatic and Related Terrestrial Ecosystems. The National Academies Press, Washington DC.

Davis, F.W., Stoms, D.M., Costello, C.J. and Machado, E.A. (2003) A Framework for Setting Land Conservation Priorities Using Multi-Criteria Scoring and an Optimal Fund Allocation Strategy. University of California, Santa Barbara, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Report to The Resources Agency of California.

We assess how effectively the current network of protected areas (PAs) across the Iberian Peninsula will conserve plant diversity under near-future (2020) climate change. We computed 3267 MAXENT environmental niche models (ENMs) at 1-km spatial resolution for known Iberian plant species under two climate scenarios (1950-2000 baseline & 2020). To predict near-future species distributions across the network of Iberian and Balearics PAs, we combined projections of species’ ENMs with simulations of propagule dispersal by using six scenarios of annual dispersal rates (no dispersal, 0.1 km, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km and unlimited). Mined PA grid cell values for each species were then analyzed. We forecast 3% overall floristic diversity richness loss by 2020. The habitat of regionally extant species will contract on average by 13.14%. Niche movement exceeds 1 km per annum for 30% of extant species. While the southerly range margin of northern plant species retracts northward at 8.9 km per decade, overall niche movement is more easterly and westerly than northerly. There is little expansion of the northern range margin of southern plant species even under unlimited dispersal. Regardless of propagule dispersal rate, altitudinal niche movement of +25 m per decade is strongest for northern species. Pyrenees flora is most vulnerable to near-future climate change with many northern plant species responding by shifting their range westerly and easterly rather than northerly. Northern humid habitats will be particularly vulnerable to near-future climate change. Andalusian National Parks will become important southern biodiversity refuges. With limited human intervention (particularly in the Pyrenees), we conclude that floristic diversity in Iberian PAs should withstand near-future climate change.

Thuiller, W., Lavorel, S., Araújo, M.B., Sykes, M.T. and Prentice, I.C. (2005) Climate Change Threats to Plant Diversity in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 8245-8250.http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0409902102

Gavilán, R.G. (2005) The Use of Climatic Parameters and Indices in Vegetation Distribution. A Case Study in the Spanish Sistema Central. International Journal of Biometeorology, 50, 111-120.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00484-005-0271-5

We assess how effectively the current network of protected areas (PAs) across the Iberian Peninsula will conserve plant diversity under near-future (2020) climate change. We computed 3267 MAXENT environmental niche models (ENMs) at 1-km spatial resolution for known Iberian plant species under two climate scenarios (1950-2000 baseline & 2020). To predict near-future species distributions across the network of Iberian and Balearics PAs, we combined projections of species’ ENMs with simulations of propagule dispersal by using six scenarios of annual dispersal rates (no dispersal, 0.1 km, 0.5 km, 1 km, 2 km and unlimited). Mined PA grid cell values for each species were then analyzed. We forecast 3% overall floristic diversity richness loss by 2020. The habitat of regionally extant species will contract on average by 13.14%. Niche movement exceeds 1 km per annum for 30% of extant species. While the southerly range margin of northern plant species retracts northward at 8.9 km per decade, overall niche movement is more easterly and westerly than northerly. There is little expansion of the northern range margin of southern plant species even under unlimited dispersal. Regardless of propagule dispersal rate, altitudinal niche movement of +25 m per decade is strongest for northern species. Pyrenees flora is most vulnerable to near-future climate change with many northern plant species responding by shifting their range westerly and easterly rather than northerly. Northern humid habitats will be particularly vulnerable to near-future climate change. Andalusian National Parks will become important southern biodiversity refuges. With limited human intervention (particularly in the Pyrenees), we conclude that floristic diversity in Iberian PAs should withstand near-future climate change.

Thuiller, W., Lavorel, S., Araújo, M.B., Sykes, M.T. and Prentice, I.C. (2005) Climate Change Threats to Plant Diversity in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 8245-8250.http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0409902102

Gavilán, R.G. (2005) The Use of Climatic Parameters and Indices in Vegetation Distribution. A Case Study in the Spanish Sistema Central. International Journal of Biometeorology, 50, 111-120.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00484-005-0271-5

Biodiversity conservation in parks and protected areas in Africa in general and especially in Nigeria is seriously threatened by the explosion of commercial bushmeat hunting activities in buffer zone communities. Several fauna species are becoming endangered and the list of extinct species is increasing due to commercial bushmeat hunting activities. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, this paper assesses the livelihoods vulnerability underpinnings of commercial bushmeat hunting activities in Cross River National Park (CRNP). Results reveal that commercial bushmeat hunting activities are shaped by a vulnerability context that hinges on different elements of environmental shocks, seasonal challenges and surrounding societal trends. The paper highlights the conservation and global sustainable development implications of uncontrolled commercial bushmeat hunting practices and concludes with options on policy recommendations and future research trajectories.

Shackleton, C.M. and Shackleton, S.E. (2004) The Importance of Non-Timber Forest Products in Rural Livelihood Security and as Safety-Nets: A Review of Evidence from South Africa. South African Journal of Science, Rhodes Centenary Issue, 100, 658-664.

De Merode, E., Homewood, K. and Cowlishaw, C. (2004) The Value of Bushmeat and Other Wild Foods to Rural Households Living in Extreme Poverty in Democratic Republic of Congo. Biological Conservation, 118, 573-581.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2003.10.005

Ros-Tonen, M.A.F. and Wiersum, K.F. (2003) The Importance of Non-Timber Forest Products for Forest-Based Rural Livelihoods: An Evolving Research Agenda. A Paper Presented at the International Conference on Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity, Bonn, 19-23 May 2003.

Fortwangler, C.L. (2003) The Winding Road: Incorporating Social Justice and Human Rights into Protected Areas Policies. In: Brechin, S.R., Wilhusen, P.R., Fortwangler, C.L. and West, P.C., Eds., Contested Nature: Promoting International Biodiversity with Social Justice in the Twenty-First Century, State University of New York Press, New York, 25-39.

Magome, H. and Murombedzi, J. (2003) Sharing South African National Parks: Community Land and Conservation in a Democratic South Africa. In: Adams, W.M. and Mullingan, M., Eds., Decolonizing Nature—Strategies for Conservation in a Post-Colonial Era, Earthscan Publications Ltd., London.